Gregg Rosenthal

The Morning After

Smith & Johnson

1. So Matt Ryan can't solve a Monte Kiffin defense. A lot of veterans can't either. Ryan still averaged nine yards-per-attempt and should bounce back the next two weeks against Minnesota and St. Louis.

2. It was a disappointing game for Shaun Hill, but the 49ers still moved the ball at will. They held on to the rock for 38 minutes and had 24 first downs, to only eleven for the Dolphins. They bogged down in Miami territory, which seems to happen too much with Mike Martz teams, but it wasn't a performance that made me lose faith for this year. We are a long way from Hill even having the job next year.

Some Panic is Acceptable

1. Eli Manning's receivers can't seem to get open against single coverage. His offensive line is having a hard time protecting him. Did the Eagles give the rest of the league a blueprint or is this just a slight swoon by a team that doesn't need to win?

2. I'd panic if I was Terrell Owens. He's now been held under 40 yards eight times this season, and Sunday's win was a good example that football is a team game that doesn't always need highlight-reel plays by a diva wideout. Life doesn't get easier against Baltimore next week. At least T.O. gave us this classic Ed Werder bitchslap. As Chris Russo would say: Good job by Owens! Good job by Kremer!

3. No matter what you hear in the practice reports this week, it will be next to impossible to roll with Marion Barber against Baltimore. No so long ago fantasy heads considered him the best back in the land, but he ran out of steam. Just like Frank Gore, Brandon Jacobs, and Clinton Portis.

5. Warrick Dunn is catching the passes, but he's now getting fewer carries than Cadillac Williams.

6. Remember the beginning of the season when we all marveled at the maturation of Jason Campbell? Now you have to wonder if he's going to be learning another offensive system next year.

7. We don't blink an eye anymore when LaDainian Tomlinson is held to 39 rushing yards against one of the worst defenses in the league. LT2 is barely a top-15 fantasy running back anymore. He's certainly not a top-20 NFL running back. One wonders where this goes from here.

8. Tim Hightower hasn't topped 40 rushing yards in six straight starts at running back, the longest such streak since I took this job in 2003. Edgerrin James is still Arizona's leading rusher this season despite having 15 fewer carries than Hightower.

9. Running for 56 yards on 21 carries against Jacksonville won't help Ryan Grant quiet the whispers that he may not be the long-term solution in Green Bay.

10. Larry Johnson has failed to top four yards-per-carry in successive matchups against Oakland, Denver, and San Diego.

Playoff Miracles

1. Give Marshawn Lynch all the credit in the world for racking up 140 yards from scrimmage against the Jets despite the J.P. Losman effect. With that said, this isn't the same Jets rush defense we feared early in the year. Kris Jenkins looks tired when he's actually on the field.

2. At this point, it's a mild surprise when the Jets receivers don't deeply disappoint. Laveranues Coles gained 82 yards, while Jerricho Cotchery had 34 yards and a touchdown. Brett Favre and this passing game has grown worse as Favre has "learned the playbook."

3. Darren McFadden finally had another nice game just in time for no one to notice or use him. McFadden won't finish among the top-five rookie backs this year, but he was the first one off the board in August. Slap me before I get excited about any offensive prospect on the Raiders again.

4. Torry Holt's halfway decent finish (299 yards, including 64 and a touchdown Sunday) will have some hoping for a rebound in 2009. I'm not totally sold: he still has fewer yards and fantasy points than Devery Henderson and there is no magic solution to the Rams offense.

5. Vincent Jackson had 37 yards before the Chiefs muffed an onsides kick and gave San Diego the ball one last time. The 52 yards and a touchdown he added in the final minute probably won some fantasy playoff games. Philip Rivers had 98 yards in the first half; 195 yards with two scores in the fourth quarter. Good job by them!

They're real and they're spectacular

1. Matt Cassel has conditioned us to his high level of play so we don't even blink when he throws for four touchdowns. Remember when the talking heads were crushing the Patriots for not upgrading their backup spot after Cassel's poor preseason? The seventh-round pick now has 3,270 passing yards, 18 TDs, 11 INTs, to go with 232 rushing yards and two more scores on the ground.

3. Michael Turner has grown past the point he only performs in plus matchups. Of course, most backs will perform when they are given over 30 carries. That's the third time since Week 8 he's topped the number. With 332 carries thus far and a playoff race going on, Turner could be staring at the curse of 370 in 2009.

4. Tony Gonzalez topped ten standard fantasy points for the fourth straight week. He's one of the ten most valuable fantasy players of the season because of the insane gap between him and the next best tight end. Gonzalez has 142 points in standard formats. No other tight end is over 100.

This week in Megatron

Before Sunday, the Colts were the toughest team for wideouts to score fantasy points against. God bless Dan Orlovsky for not caring that Megatron was double covered on every play because he still kept throwing in his direction. Johnson made a number of excellent leaping grabs in traffic on his way to nine catches for 110 yards and a score.

Getting Greedy

It's a cliché to say that fantasy football isn't fair by now, right? Everyone has a sob story. Here are a few.

1. Peyton Manning watched two receivers get tackled at the one-yard line, only to hand the ball off the following play. Reggie Wayne came up a yard short of his first touchdown since Week 10. Wayne has one touchdown in the last nine games.

4. Add up the whole season and Jay Cutler is a top-five quarterback. Brandon Marshall is a top-ten wide receiver. But the rollercoaster to get there has been maddening. Cutler's 172-yard, one score effort in Carolina was another downer. This team needs a running game badly to help the mop-topped one.

5. As great as Antonio Bryant was Sunday, all 108 of his yards came in the first half.

6. Steven Jackson recorded an excellent day worthy of a top-ten pick, but he gained only 20 yards from scrimmage after halftime despite the Rams playing with a big lead. Whatever the reason, he's faded the last two weeks as the game wears on. The old S-Jax, playing on the old Rams squads, keeps it rolling and doesn't blow a huge lead to Seattle.

7. The Vikings scored 35 points, and All Day didn't have a touchdown?! Peterson is completing my preseason prediction that he'd win the rushing title, but his relative lack of scores (9) and receiving yards (109) had prevented total fantasy dominance. Not that his owners should be complaining considering the other land mines early in drafts.

When I look back on 2008 Week 15 a few years from now, I'll remember the robo-receivers carrying the day. Andre 1,408 (and counting) dropped a ridiculously dominating 207 yards and a score on Cortland Finnegan and the Titans; the rest of the Houston receivers combined for 73 yards.

Smith was half man, half amazing, carrying fantasy teams and the Panthers on his 185-pound frame. He beat Denver deep, on the sidelines, over the middle, while taking a hit, jawing, fighting for yards, snatching the ball from beleaguered Denver cornerbacks. Smith wound up with 165 yards and a lot of owners happy they didn't overreact to his two-game suspension on draft day. The 2008 Steve Smith is the one we hope shows up every year, but his team usually gets in the way.

I'll remember Megatron putting up another huge line despite playing with Dan Orlovsky. I'll remember Antonio Bryant completing his transformation from scrap-heap sleeper to fantasy star.

If it was a day for dominating receivers, it was also a good reminder of how overrated the first-round of fantasy drafts are. Has a preseason top-12 ever looked so inconsequential in December? Even the running backs that have earned their draft value like Clinton Portis, Frank Gore, Marion Barber, Brandon Jacobs, and Reggie Bush ran out of gas before the finish line.

A lot of owners who loaded up on wideouts in the second and third round in August are doing well, largely because the running backs available in the middle rounds did so well. Many of the usual '08 suspects at running back performed well Sunday, but they weren't high picks: Michael Turner, DeAngelo Williams, Steve Slaton, and Thomas Jones to name a few.

Complain about your bad luck and the fantasy Gods, but this season rewarded the best owners. It didn't matter where your draft slot was. The playing field is less top-heavy than ever, so the deepest teams have thrived. Luck will always be a JaMarcus-sized factor in an elimination playoff system. But the teams who got this far put themselves in position to get lucky. Steve Smith, Andre Johnson, and some of the men below took care of the rest.

1. Antonio Bryant wasn't among our Volek candidates last week because the Bucs played on Monday night. Now he's a favorite in a strong field to win the crown. We have quickly come to expect a lot of Bryant, but don't forget he wasn't even listed in most fantasy magazines last summer. He was acquired late in drafts or off the waiver wire. Bryant has 308 yards and three scores the last two weeks. Even Brian Griese can't hold him down.

2. Pierre Thomas played Thursday, but we can't forget his performance against the Bears Thursday. Weren't they supposed to be a good rush defense? Wasn't Reggie Bush supposed to catch the passes? After Thomas' 7-catch effort followed by Bush's sulk, we might not see Reggie again in '08. Thomas now has 255 yards-from-scrimmage and four touchdowns in the last two weeks. Kudos if you played him. Kudos to the Saints for recognizing the best player in their backfield.

3. I don't care that most of Tashard Choice's yards have come off screens and shotgun draws with few defenders in front of him. While MBIII sadly hobbles around, Choice has 309 yards from scrimmage and his first NFL touchdown against the Steelers and Giants. That's no joke. In most years, he'd be the Volek favorite. And yes, we've only given out this award for two years.

4. These three players have performed so well, it's insulting to list anyone else as a top candidate. But here are some others receiving votes.

John Carlson: While Dustin Keller wasn't looking, Carlson is now putting up the best rookie tight end season. 19 catches for 250 yards the last three weeks, which is a season for most good rookies.

Sammy Morris: Quietly has rushed for 153 yards with two touchdowns on New England's West Coast trip.

Kevin Smith: Perhaps too much initial rookie hype to qualify as a true Volek, but Smith's quiet competence in Detroit has not gone unnoticed. A 119-yard effort against the Colts gives him 210 for the fantasy playoffs to go with a touchdown.

Dominic Rhodes: It's quite a surprise, but the Colts don't lose anything when they turn to Dominic Rhodes. Perhaps being a Colts running back isn't that tough, but Rhodes' owners aren't complaining after 116 yards-from-scrimmage and two scores. Rhodes now has more yards and touchdowns than Joseph Addai on the season.

Don't Panic

1. So Matt Ryan can't solve a Monte Kiffin defense. A lot of veterans can't either. Ryan still averaged nine yards-per-attempt and should bounce back the next two weeks against Minnesota and St. Louis.

2. It was a disappointing game for Shaun Hill, but the 49ers still moved the ball at will. They held on to the rock for 38 minutes and had 24 first downs, to only eleven for the Dolphins. They bogged down in Miami territory, which seems to happen too much with Mike Martz teams, but it wasn't a performance that made me lose faith for this year. We are a long way from Hill even having the job next year.

Some Panic is Acceptable

1. Eli Manning's receivers can't seem to get open against single coverage. His offensive line is having a hard time protecting him. Did the Eagles give the rest of the league a blueprint or is this just a slight swoon by a team that doesn't need to win?

2. I'd panic if I was Terrell Owens. He's now been held under 40 yards eight times this season, and Sunday's win was a good example that football is a team game that doesn't always need highlight-reel plays by a diva wideout. Life doesn't get easier against Baltimore next week. At least T.O. gave us this classic Ed Werder bitchslap. As Chris Russo would say: Good job by Owens! Good job by Kremer!

3. No matter what you hear in the practice reports this week, it will be next to impossible to roll with Marion Barber against Baltimore. No so long ago fantasy heads considered him the best back in the land, but he ran out of steam. Just like Frank Gore, Brandon Jacobs, and Clinton Portis.

5. Warrick Dunn is catching the passes, but he's now getting fewer carries than Cadillac Williams.

6. Remember the beginning of the season when we all marveled at the maturation of Jason Campbell? Now you have to wonder if he's going to be learning another offensive system next year.

7. We don't blink an eye anymore when LaDainian Tomlinson is held to 39 rushing yards against one of the worst defenses in the league. LT2 is barely a top-15 fantasy running back anymore. He's certainly not a top-20 NFL running back. One wonders where this goes from here.

8. Tim Hightower hasn't topped 40 rushing yards in six straight starts at running back, the longest such streak since I took this job in 2003. Edgerrin James is still Arizona's leading rusher this season despite having 15 fewer carries than Hightower.

9. Running for 56 yards on 21 carries against Jacksonville won't help Ryan Grant quiet the whispers that he may not be the long-term solution in Green Bay.

10. Larry Johnson has failed to top four yards-per-carry in successive matchups against Oakland, Denver, and San Diego.

Playoff Miracles

1. Give Marshawn Lynch all the credit in the world for racking up 140 yards from scrimmage against the Jets despite the J.P. Losman effect. With that said, this isn't the same Jets rush defense we feared early in the year. Kris Jenkins looks tired when he's actually on the field.

2. At this point, it's a mild surprise when the Jets receivers don't deeply disappoint. Laveranues Coles gained 82 yards, while Jerricho Cotchery had 34 yards and a touchdown. Brett Favre and this passing game has grown worse as Favre has "learned the playbook."

3. Darren McFadden finally had another nice game just in time for no one to notice or use him. McFadden won't finish among the top-five rookie backs this year, but he was the first one off the board in August. Slap me before I get excited about any offensive prospect on the Raiders again.

4. Torry Holt's halfway decent finish (299 yards, including 64 and a touchdown Sunday) will have some hoping for a rebound in 2009. I'm not totally sold: he still has fewer yards and fantasy points than Devery Henderson and there is no magic solution to the Rams offense.

5. Vincent Jackson had 37 yards before the Chiefs muffed an onsides kick and gave San Diego the ball one last time. The 52 yards and a touchdown he added in the final minute probably won some fantasy playoff games. Philip Rivers had 98 yards in the first half; 195 yards with two scores in the fourth quarter. Good job by them!

They're real and they're spectacular

1. Matt Cassel has conditioned us to his high level of play so we don't even blink when he throws for four touchdowns. Remember when the talking heads were crushing the Patriots for not upgrading their backup spot after Cassel's poor preseason? The seventh-round pick now has 3,270 passing yards, 18 TDs, 11 INTs, to go with 232 rushing yards and two more scores on the ground.

3. Michael Turner has grown past the point he only performs in plus matchups. Of course, most backs will perform when they are given over 30 carries. That's the third time since Week 8 he's topped the number. With 332 carries thus far and a playoff race going on, Turner could be staring at the curse of 370 in 2009.

4. Tony Gonzalez topped ten standard fantasy points for the fourth straight week. He's one of the ten most valuable fantasy players of the season because of the insane gap between him and the next best tight end. Gonzalez has 142 points in standard formats. No other tight end is over 100.

This week in Megatron

Before Sunday, the Colts were the toughest team for wideouts to score fantasy points against. God bless Dan Orlovsky for not caring that Megatron was double covered on every play because he still kept throwing in his direction. Johnson made a number of excellent leaping grabs in traffic on his way to nine catches for 110 yards and a score.

Getting Greedy

It's a cliché to say that fantasy football isn't fair by now, right? Everyone has a sob story. Here are a few.

1. Peyton Manning watched two receivers get tackled at the one-yard line, only to hand the ball off the following play. Reggie Wayne came up a yard short of his first touchdown since Week 10. Wayne has one touchdown in the last nine games.

4. Add up the whole season and Jay Cutler is a top-five quarterback. Brandon Marshall is a top-ten wide receiver. But the rollercoaster to get there has been maddening. Cutler's 172-yard, one score effort in Carolina was another downer. This team needs a running game badly to help the mop-topped one.

5. As great as Antonio Bryant was Sunday, all 108 of his yards came in the first half.

6. Steven Jackson recorded an excellent day worthy of a top-ten pick, but he gained only 20 yards from scrimmage after halftime despite the Rams playing with a big lead. Whatever the reason, he's faded the last two weeks as the game wears on. The old S-Jax, playing on the old Rams squads, keeps it rolling and doesn't blow a huge lead to Seattle.

7. The Vikings scored 35 points, and All Day didn't have a touchdown?! Peterson is completing my preseason prediction that he'd win the rushing title, but his relative lack of scores (9) and receiving yards (109) had prevented total fantasy dominance. Not that his owners should be complaining considering the other land mines early in drafts.